Playing God is Ridiculously Frustrating
by katemedvan
Summary: Charlie Bradbury is sick of watching Dean Winchester pine over Castiel Novak, to no avail. With a little help from a certain crazed fangirl, Charlie decides to set the record straight. (High School AU)
1. Chapter 1

Day 1: _Captain's Log, Stardate 166.5. On our first day of star mapping, an opportunity arises to complete the mission at a much faster speed. Target becomes partner for project. My decision – go for it._

Charlie Bradbury was sick of this whole situation, but she was definitely not one to pass up playing God. It wasn't exactly an independent decision, but it was either her or Becky Rosen, and Becky Rosen playing God would just lead to inappropriate and horrendously- written fanfiction. And since Charlie was determined to protect the fanfiction community from the mind of Becky, she took it upon herself to play God for just a little while and convince Dean Winchester and Castiel Novak to just _get it on already_. She was sick and tired of hearing Dean rag on and on about the way Castiel's hair was so messy and perfect and about how his blue eyes seemed to stare into your soul in a kind-of-creepy way. The most obvious plan seemed to be to just_ get them together at all costs_, and Charlie was overjoyed when the opportunity to do so presented itself in last period English class.

"So you're my partner, I suppose. I'm Castiel, by the way." Castiel smiled as he slid into the desk opposite Charlie's, arranging his pencils in an orderly fashion.

Following the usual end-of-the-school-year pattern, their English teacher had decided to assign a rather lengthy project to his class of tired juniors. It required a meticulously written essay, a poster, and a randomly selected partner. Charlie was lucky enough to be paired with the studious Castiel Novak, much to her pleasure. She was actually quite smart, but had an awful knack for procrastination, whereas Castiel seemed to be able to get things done. It was also a perfect partnership considering Charlie's plan to play God for a bit.

"I know. Charlie Bradbury. Pleased to meet you." Charlie greeted, returning the smile.

"You're friends with Dean Winchester, right?" Castiel asked cautiously, still smiling at her.

"Yup," Charlie nodded, "He's sitting right there if you want me to introduce you to him."

She glanced over to where Dean was sitting next to his partner, Benny, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he looked over his notes. He picked his head up and spotted Charlie, who offered him an enthusiastic wave. He waved back, his eyes flitting over to Castiel before dropping back to his notes.

_Grow a pair, Winchester._ Charlie thought, shaking her head in disappointment.

For a guy with big talk and a give-em-hell attitude, Dean was certainly lacking in the feelings department. Give him a cheerleader and he'll charm the panties right off of her, but present him with someone he actually cares about and he's screwed.

"I mean, I'm not usually into dudes or anything," he'd say quickly, "But this guy, Cas, I dunno, there's something about him."

"It's called a crush," Charlie would inform him, "You have a big, mushy crush on him."

"Nah, not really." Dean would reply, leaning against his locker as his cheeks flushed slightly, "I mean, I barely know the freaking guy-"

"Dude," Charlie would say in exasperation, "He stares at you, like, all the time. Please, just make a move!"

And yet anything Charlie said never swayed the almighty Dean Winchester. He remained utterly convinced that his infatuation with Castiel was a one way thing, which Charlie knew was totally not true. And proving it had never been easier now that Charlie's project partner was the Novak kid himself.

"No, it's alright." Castiel said, quietly turning down Charlie's invitation to introduce him to Dean.

"You sure? He's not that scary. Behind the big leather jacket and freckles is a gigantic teddy bear." Charlie urged, raising an eyebrow.

Castiel glanced down at his notes before looking up and replying,

"It's alright. Thank you, Charlie. We should, erm, probably find a time to work on our project."

"How does tomorrow afternoon sound? My place?" Charlie asked, grinning at the raven-haired boy in front of her.

"Yes, that sounds reasonable." Castiel agreed, glancing at his notes once again.

Very reasonable, yes. It was Monday today and the project was due on Friday, which gave Charlie plenty of time to set the two boys up together.

"Sounds like a plan, then." Charlie stated happily, beginning to pack up her things. She paused for a moment when she saw that Castiel was still sitting there, most likely staring at Dean.

"Dude," Charlie cleared her throat, "Might want to pack up. Bell's going to ring any second."

"Oh, yes," Castiel said quickly, "Thank you."

"No problem." Charlie smirked, glancing at Dean from her seat. Dean caught her eyes with a questioning stare, but Charlie just shook her head and turned back to Castiel.

The bell rang moments later, and Dean wasted no time catching up to Charlie in the hallway.

"Hey, Charlie." he greeted, appearing at her side.

"Hey yourself." she replied, weaving her way through the throng of kids streaming down the hallway.

"So, Cas is you partner?" he began nonchalantly, waiting by her side as she reached locker and began fiddling with the lock.

Charlie sighed as she plugged in her combination. This was getting near ridiculous; far past the point of a "big, mushy crush".

"Yeah, he's my partner." Charlie replied, suppressing a smile.

"What's he like?" Dean asked quickly, watching her with curious eyes.

"I barely know him, Dean," Charlie groaned, "Quit pestering me. I'll fill you in tomorrow after we work on the project."

"Thanks, Charlie." Dean grinned.

"Hey, Winchester!" someone called out, and Dean vanished back into the crowd, most likely to greet a member of the football team or flirt with another cheerleader.

Charlie rolled her eyes, shoving her books into her bag and slamming her locker shut.

"Charlie!" a shrill voice called out, and Charlie groaned, fighting the urge to bang her head against her locker.

"Hi, Becky." she greeted cheerfully, whirling around to meet the other girl with a forced smile.

Becky Rosen stood before her, clutching her book bag with white knuckles and bouncing on the heels of her feet. She smiled at Charlie knowingly, her eyes widening in a slightly creepy manner and her perfectly straightened blonde hair whooshing behind her head.

"I totally just saw you talking with Dean Winchester," she gushed quickly, smoothing out her sweater-vest, "Were you talking about Castiel? I bet you were. They're so cute together, don't you think?"

"Becky," Charlie began slowly, meeting the other girl's intense stare, "We've talked about this. I told you I'd act as the knight in shining armor and get them together."

"I ship it so hard." Becky sighed wistfully, and Charlie watched as her eyes nearly glazed over.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Becky," Charlie interjected cautiously, "But I'd really appreciate if you, uh, went away and let me go home."

Becky's eyes widened as she realized what Charlie requested, and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, totally," she assured Charlie before rushing off to who-knows-where, "Just keep me updated!"

Charlie shook her head as she began to make her way to the front lobby of the high school. She liked Becky, really, but she preferred to think of Becky as a fangirl and herself as more of a fanwarrior. Nothing personal, really, it's just the fact that Becky liked to write copious amounts of sexual, incestuous fanfiction while Charlie preferred less disturbing subject matters. But Charlie wasn't one to judge, especially when she had a secret Star Trek shrine in her closet.


	2. Chapter 2

Day 2: _Captain's Log, Stardate 167.6. Second day of mission proved to be a bore until I acquired the target by its lonesome to work on previously mentioned English project. My plan is proceeding rather nicely. _

"This would be my house." Charlie announced, gesturing to the white house on the corner of the street, "My parents aren't home, so we have the whole place to ourselves."

"It's very nice." Castiel offered, clutching his books and studying the house.

It was a decent sized house, perfect for the average middleclass family. Not too big and not too small, with a select few flowers encircling the yard and the walkway.

"My mom's got a bit of a green thumb." Charlie explained, leading Castiel down the walkway, past the pink and white blossoms.

"They're quite beautiful." Castiel breathed, staring at the flowers as he slowly followed Charlie to the front door.

Charlie suppressed a laugh as she watched Castiel bend down to smell one of them and then continue walking down the pathway, his ridiculous tan trenchcoat flapping behind him. Of course Dean would fall for this one. The one who wears a baggy trenchcoat and a formal tie and finds the time to stop and smell the flowers. In the words of a certain energetic fanfiction writer, Charlie _totally shipped it_.

"Yo, Castiel," Charlie called out, "We gonna do the project or what?"

Castiel quickened his pace, meeting Charlie at the front door and stepping inside when she held it open for him.

"My apologies." he muttered, ducking his head.

"It's cool," Charlie smiled, "No need to apologize."

She gave him a brief tour of the house, including the kitchen ("This is where we keep the knives and stuff, just in case- okay, moving on."), the living room ("If you need a break or whatever, just chillax down here."), and the dining room ("I don't know why we have this room. We never use it. Just, uh, I don't know, ignore it.") before leading him upstairs into her room.

"So, uh, we should start." Charlie began awkwardly, "I have my laptop and stuff over here with some equipment – agh, nevermind, we won't need that for our project."

"This is perfect." Castiel assured her, offering her a shy smile. He plopped his books down on her desk, selecting one of his binders and beginning to flip through his notes.

Charlie grabbed her laptop, opening a document on Microsoft Word and logging into the school website. She glanced at Castiel over her laptop, hoping to ask him to grab her notes for her, but the sound died in her mouth when she realized what he was doing. He was examining a picture frame above her desk, a wooden one that held a picture of her and Dean on the first day of high school.

"First day of high school," Charlie chirped, "The picture, I mean."

Castiel didn't look up at her, just continued to study the picture. He cocked his head slightly, staring at the picture with an intensity Charlie would've found insanely creepy if it hadn't also been sickeningly adorable.

"What's Dean like?" Castiel asked finally, lifting his head to meet Charlie's gaze.

Charlie cleared her throat, awkwardly scratching the back of her head. She glanced at the frame in Castiel's hand, her eyes flitting over the tiny features of the photograph.

"I'm sorry," Castiel said quickly, putting down the picture, "That was extremely rude of me. Let's continue the project, shall we?"

"Sure thing," Charlie agreed, pausing a moment before continuing, "Dean's a good guy. You should get to know him."

"We've talked a few times," Castiel admitted, hesitantly jumping on board with the subject matter. Out of her peripheral vision, Charlie noticed how although he had put down the picture, his thumb absentmindedly tracing the outline of Dean's jaw through the glass picture frame.

"What did you say?" Charlie inquired, the question coming out a bit more eagerly than she expected it to. Castiel didn't seem to notice though, "When you talked?"

"We just say 'hello' from time to time," Castiel admitted, "That's all."

Charlie could've laughed out loud. Of course that's how their conversations went, if you could even count them as conversations. Charlie could imagine it in her head:

"Hello, Dean," Cas would say, offering a shy smile to the boy he accidentally bumped into in the hallway.

"Hey, Cas." Dean would reply gruffly.

And then they would stare at each with homosexual longing for a few moments before shuffling past each other in the mad scrambled to get to their next class.

"What's so funny?" Castiel asked, and Charlie realized that she actually _had _starting laughing out loud at the scenario.

"Oh, nothing," she shook her head, still grinning, "Come on, we've got a paper to write."

The next couple hours or so were filled with the soft sounds of pencil against paper and the loud clacking of a computer keyboard. There was a ten minute break that turned into a twenty minute break, and approximately six packs of candy. Occasionally, there would be idle conversation that differed from the usual "What do your notes say?" or "How should I explain this?".

At one point, Castiel asked what Dean's favorite color was, to which Charlie made a face and replied with a, "Uh, I don't really know. Does plaid count?".

After Charlie finished typing up the rough draft, Castiel asked if Dean had any family. A slightly personal question, but Castiel was really beginning to grow on Charlie. And hey, if it helped the cause, Charlie was up for answering it.

"He has a brother named Sam," she answered thoughtfully, her face scrunched up in thought, "And parents. John and Mary I think? John's tough on him, but he's an alright guy."

"I see." Castiel replied, "What should the layout of our poster be?"

When three hours had passed and Castiel decided that he had to go home, Charlie stopped him as he was about to go out the front door.

"He really likes you," she stated seriously, "Dean, I mean."

Castiel shook his head sadly, gazing at the flowers adorning Charlie's front walkway.

"Dean and I," he began carefully, "We are very different. I very much doubt he reciprocates my, ah, feelings. Thank you for having me over, Charlie. I hope we'll be seeing more of each other.

And then he whisked himself out the front door leaving Charlie standing there with a frustrated expression and immense urge to scream into a pillow.


	3. Chapter 3

**So, as you know, this story is entirely unedited and un-beta'd at the moment. I'm a little iffy about this chapter, so I hope you can forgive me for any unintentional cheesiness and plot holes. I'll fix it all later when I edit this entire thing. But here you go, installment three of Playing God is Ridiculously Frustrating. **

Day 3: _Captain's Log, Stardate 168.4. English class proves to be a gift that keeps on giving. My only problem - I think I screwed up the whole thing._

"I have a good feeling about today, Becky." Charlie smiled, walking down the hallway next to her friend, "Today, I've got a plan."

Beside her, Becky was hanging on to every word, sighing wistfully in response to Charlie's declaration.

"I wish I was in your English class." she commented, her face beginning to scrunch up in disappointment.

Charlie was on her way to English class and Becky was headed towards History; meaning that instead of playing matchmaker with Charlie, she would be learning about the wonders of Ancient Japan.

"I'm a genius," Charlie stated, allowing herself to gloat, "They're going to be swapping spit in no time."

Becky stared at her with fascination, enthusiastically nodding in agreement before her expression turned to one of confusion.

"What _is_ your plan?" she asked.

"Right," Charlie sighed, "I should probably tell you, but we're rapidly approaching the English hallway and I really don't want to be late."

She gave Becky an apologetic look and offered her a goodbye wave, but Becky grabbed her wrist and kept her rooted to the spot.

"You better tell me." Becky warned, widening her eyes in an attempt to look threatening.

"I will later," Charlie assured her nervously, pulling her wrist free from Becky's clutches, "After it works. And please don't grab my wrist again, violence is never the answer."

"Charlie!" Becky whined, pouting as Charlie whirled around and began walking towards the classroom.

"Peace out, Becks." Charlie called back. She watched as Becky let out an aggravated huff of breath and stomped off in the general direction of the History hallway.

Charlie rolled her eyes before adjusting her books in her arms and entering the English classroom. She wasn't late, which was a gigantic piece of luck. She glanced around the room confidently, but spotting neither Castiel nor Dean, she sighed and plopped down into a random desk.

She was just beginning to take out the rough drafts she and Castiel had worked on the night before when Castiel , right on cue, slid into the desk opposite her; a motion very similar to the day they first met.

"Hello, Charlie." he smiled shyly, arranging his books underneath his chair.

Well, it was now or never.

"Castiel?" Charlie began, phrasing her greeting as a question, "Can I ask a big favor of you?"

Castiel's eyebrows furrowed in worry, his head tilting to the side ever-so-slighly.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

Charlie bit her lip, trying to decide whether or not her plan was actually worth it. It had seemed wonderful when she bragged to Becky about it, but now, talking to Castiel, it seemed rather juvenile.

"Uh," Charlie began a bit nervously, "Can I hit on you?"

Castiel looked at her, confusion clouding his eyes as he mulled her sentence over. Charlie waited patiently, her breath hitched, before the penny dropped and Castiel's face lit up in realization.

"Is this a tactic to make Dean jealous?" he asked, each word spoken slowly and cautiously.

"Possibly." Charlie admitted with a nervous shrug, "Is it stupid? It's stupid. It works in the romcoms, though."

"I don't know about this-" Castiel started uncertainty, but was cut off mid-sentence by the arrival of Dean Winchester.

Castiel's face lit up at the sight of him, and Charlie couldn't help but notice how he subconsciously brushed off that ridiculous trenchcoat of his. Part of Charlie secretly wondered why he wasn't teased about, but the other part of her – the kinder one – decided it was because everybody was so used to it.

"Charlie, have you seen Benny?" Dean demanded, "He's my partner and the guy's been MIA since this morning."

"Oh my god." Charlie breathed, staring up at him in fascination. Screw her plan, everything was falling into place without any need for one. Is this what being God felt like? Because it felt like the entire universe was on her side, and it was absolutely fantasatic.

"Well, uh," Dean began, staring at Charlie in confusion, before turning to Castiel and mumbling a muted, "Hey, Cas."

"Hello, Dean." Castiel greeted pleasantly.

Charlie could've burst out into song right then. Benny was most likely sick (Dean was right, nobody had seen him all day.) which meant that Dean could sit with Charlie and Cas, which also meant that-

"I don't have to hit on you!" Charlie informed Castiel excitedly, grinning at him.

Dean cleared his throat awkwardly as Castiel stared at Charlie in wide-eyed embarrassment. Charlie bit her lip, realizing her mistake before composing herself and patting on the desk beside her.

"Benny's sick," she informed Dean coolly, "You may sit with us."

"Gee, thanks." Dean muttered sarcastically, but his attitude couldn't hide the fact that he was obviously pleased by this turn of events.

"Alright," Charlie grinned, opening her binder and flipping through the tabs in search of her notes, "Here are my notes. I have to go to the bathroom, so Castiel, would you mind starting to revise our rough drafts with them?"

Castiel turned his gaze away from Dean to look at Charlie and nod his head in agreement.

"I guess I'll, uh, actually start my rough drafts?" Dean tried, staring down at his own binder in frustration.

Charlie glanced between Dean and Castiel, barely able to keep herself from blurting something out. Really, this was too perfect.

"You didn't start your rough drafts?" Charlie asked, with a note of feigned innocence, "Well, I'm sure Castiel could help you with them."

Dean looked up at her, obviously detecting something wrong with her tone of voice. His eyes flitted back to Castiel's for only a moment before he cleared his throat and spoke up.

"Yeah, that sounds good," he said, his voice gruff, "Would you mind helpin' me out, Cas?"

"Of course," Castiel nodded, refusing to meet Dean's gaze, "Let me look at the notes you took."

Charlie clapped her hands together, a goofy grin on her face as watched Castiel reach over for Dean's notes, still avoiding his eyes.

"I'll just be a moment." she smiled, "A girl's gotta relieve herself now and then."

Neither boy looked up at her or even acknowledged that she'd spoken, but Charlie couldn't bring herself to care. Instead she backed out of the classroom and rushed down the hallway towards the bathrooms. Halfway down the hallway, she may or may not have pumped her fist into the air a few times, performing a bit of a victory dance before jogging the rest of the way to the bathroom.

When she had hid in the bathroom for what seemed the appropriate amount of time if someone actually did have to relieve themselves, she returned to the classroom and took her seat.

Charlie didn't really know what she was expecting, but nothing had changed since she'd left. Dean was leaning back in his seat, watching on as Castiel wrote something on Dean's notes. Charlie sighed, and Castiel lifted his head up at the noise.

"Did you talk to each other at _all _while I was gone?" Charlie questioned incredulously, propping up her head with her palm.

"No." Castiel replied bluntly, before returning his attention to Dean's notes again.

Charlie sighed again, vaguely wondering if it was possible to roll your eyes so hard that you could actually see the inside of your head. She turned to Dean, only to find that he was glaring at her.

Alright, so maybe the situation wasn't as perfect as Charlie had originally thought it to be. But now was no time to give up. If Castiel or Dean weren't going to make a move on their own, Charlie would have to do it herself.

"So," Charlie began, turning to Castiel, "Cas, you're actually sort of cute."

Charlie was the world's worst flirt, but the response she got was almost magical. Castiel turned bright red, still refusing to look anywhere but Dean's notes. Dean, on the other hand, sat up straighter. Noticing the fact that Charlie used _his_ nickname for Castiel, he shot her a smoldering look. Charlie stared back at him, her eyes wide and innocent.

"I mean, I don't usually go for guys, like, at all," Charlie forged on, still pretending that Dean's glare didn't make her feel uncomfortable at all, "But, I don't know Cas, there's something about you."

"Charlie, is this really the right time for this?" Dean cut in, and Castiel ducked his head down even further.

"It's always the right time for love, Dean." Charlie informed him.

"Alright, Charlie," Dean said, abruptly standing up, "I'll leave you two lovebirds alone."

"Wait, hold on-" Charlie tried, but it was too late. Dean has resigned himself to the other side of the room.

Charlie groaned, letting her head bang against the desk.

"Well," Castiel cleared his throat, "That certainly didn't go as planned."

"I'm sorry, Cas," Charlie sighed, lazily lifting her head up, "This was my fault."

"Only Dean calls me Cas." Castiel stated stiffly, "He, ah, also forgot his notes."

"Come on, don't be like that." Charlie whined, "I mean, Dean knows I'm a lesbian, he can't possibly think that I was being serious-"

"You should go give him his notes." Castiel continued, ignoring Charlie's comment and sliding the notes across his desk and onto Charlie's.

Charlie stared at them, and couldn't help but wonder why playing god had to be so goddamn hard.


	4. Chapter 4

**So this chapter takes place on the same day as the last chapter did, then moves on to the next day. I hope it's not too confusing. **

Day 3: _Captain's Log, Stardate 168.9. My plan has gone to hell. I give up._

"So did you give him the notes?" Becky questioned from the other end of the phone.

Charlie sighed, plopping down onto her bed in her pajamas.

"Well, yeah, but it was totally awkward and he didn't even look at me," she huffed, rolling onto her stomach, "I give up. You can play matchmaker for a while."

"Really?" Becky squealed, and Charlie nearly cringed at her high-pitched tone of voice.

"Sure," Charlie answered, "It was getting kind of creepy, actually. I mean, they're my friends, but I guess I really shouldn't have been dabbling in their business."

"Of course you should have," Becky argued, "They belong together."

And once again, Becky fails to understand the boundaries between friendly intervention and just being plain creepy. Not like that's a surprise.

"See, Becky? This is what I mean by creepy. I mean, we're _shipping our friends_. Well, my friends, not to be rude, but don't you see anything wrong with that picture?" Charlie asked incredulously.

"You're just upset that I'm going to succeed where you have failed." Becky replied curtly.

"Don't sass me, Becky." Charlie warned, refusing to admit that Becky's words may have some truth to them.

"I'm not sassing," Becky pouted, before her voice perked up, "Hey, don't you still have to do that project with Castiel?"

"Yes," Charlie groaned, "Oh my gosh, I don't even want to think about how weird that's going to be. This is what I get, Becky. This is what I get for trying to be some higher power. I have to be in an enclosed space with him for two hours tomorrow after school."

"But Charlie, this is your chance to redeem yourself!" Becky chirped, obviously excited.

"No thank you," Charlie sighed dejectedly, "They're all yours."

"I'll have them on a date before you can even say the Star Trek opening." Becky assured her.

"I appreciate the reference," Charlie approved, "But I have to go now. Oh, and Becky? Please don't freak them out too much."

"I don't freak people out." Becky frowned, and Charlie sarcastically reassured her that of course, she totally didn't freak anyone out _at all_ before hanging up and tossing her phone onto her beanbag chair.

She reached for her laptop, throwing a pile of clean clothes off her bed to make room for it. Opening a file, she watched as the new Star Trek movie went from 0% downloaded to 99% downloaded, and somehow managed to fall asleep before it reached 100%.

She was pathetic, honestly.

Day 4: _Captain's Log, Stardate 169.5. I pray that everyone leaves me alone. I'm exhausted. _

"This is so hard!" Becky stated, sliding next to Charlie in the cafeteria.

Charlie just grumbled under her breath, hoping the dark circles under her eyes were indication enough for Becky to leave her alone.

"Dean won't even talk to me," Becky continued, much to Charlie's disappointment, "And neither will Castiel."

"What a surprise." Charlie deadpanned, staring at the untouched brown-bagged lunch in front of her.

"I know, right? But- hey, are you okay?" Becky questioned, narrowing her eyes at Charlie.

"Hm?" Charlie asked, turning to look at Becky expectantly. Becky just stared at her, wordlessly analyzing her.

"You're tired." she finally said.

"Very perceptive, Becky," Charlie amended, "Really, you could rival Hermione Granger in your intellectual capacities."

"Fine, then, Grumpy-Pants," Becky replied, "I'll just leave. Besides, I have matchmaker duties to attend to."

She let out an annoyed huffed before standing up, tossing her perfectly-manicured hair behind her head, and stomping off. Her skirt swished behind her as she exited the cafeteria, and Charlie couldn't help but snicker at the way her nose was literally stuck up in the air.

"Take a joke, Becks." Charlie shook her head, finally reaching for her lunch bag and peering inside.

"Watcha got there?" a gruff voice asked, and Charlie looked up to see Dean sitting down across from her.

His disposition was cold and his words stiff, but Charlie was just relieved at the fact that their friendship wasn't completely demolished.

"A ham sandwich and applesauce." she replied pleasantly, determined to not let her lack-of-sleep induced sarcasm leak into this conversation and further tarnish the friendship.

"Cool. I got me some pie." Dean replied, cracking a smile and showing off his slice of apple pie.

Alright, Charlie could do small talk. Of course there were a few subjects that she had to steer clear of, Castiel and English class definitely being some of them.

"You seem happy today." Charlie finally spoke up, taking a bite out of her sandwich.

Dean just shrugged, gingerly setting his pie down on top of a napkin.

"Yeah, well, stuff happens." he said vaguely.

"I'm not even going to pretend to know what that means." Charlie decided, devouring more of her sandwich.

"Except there's one thing I need to ask you about," Dean continued, and Charlie briefly considered stuffing her mouth with food as an excuse not to answer, "What's up with Becky? I've never talked to the chick in my life and suddenly I'm more fascinating than the weird stuff she's always rambling about."

"Yeah, about that-" Charlie winced, praying for the bell to ring before she had to answer the question.

The bell rang.

Charlie decided that there was indeed a god out there.

"See you around, Charlie," Dean smiled, seemingly forgetting about his question and giving her an easy-going smile, "And dude, we need to watch the new Trek movie."

"Totally." Charlie agreed, relief flooding through her.

Sure, the exchange was a little stiff and the smile a little forced, but Dean didn't hold a grudge against her, and Charlie was thankful for that. She watched as he gave her a small wave and disappeared out of the cafeteria and into the throng of students.

Now she just had to survive working on the project with Castiel.

Day 4: _Captain's Log, Stardate 168.9. Although Dean is not hostile, I am unsure about Castiel. We made plans to work on that godforsaken project at his house, but this does not mean he does not hate me. _

"Before we enter, I want to apologize for any strange behaviors my siblings exhibit." Castiel observed as they rounded the corner and neared his house.

As far as walks home from school went, this had to be the most awkward one that Charlie had ever experienced.

Castiel had barely talked to her, instead focusing all his attention on the sidewalk. As soon as they had left the school, he had warned her about his siblings and then fell into silence,.

Weird, yes, but now Charlie was mostly curious about why Castiel had warned her about his siblings not once, but twice.

Well, she was about to find out.

"Come on in." Castiel said, opening the front door for her.

"Thank you." she replied politely, stepping into their mudroom.

Immediately, she understood what Castiel was talking about.

One of Castiel's brothers stood in the kitchen directly in front of her, his arms full of candy. He closed the cabinet he had taken the candy from before noticing them.

"Well, shit." he stated.

"Hello?" Charlie tried meekly.

"Gabriel," Castiel sighed, stepping in beside Charlie, "Please put Anna's candy back where you found it. She won't be too pleased to know you've stolen it all."

"No can do, little bro," Gabriel smirked, adjusting the boxes in his arms to make them easier to carry, "You have no authority over me."

Castiel just sighed in defeat, giving Charlie an apologetic look.

"I apologize for my brother, Charlie," he said, "Although I hope he knows that by committing this act, he's going to have to deal with my sister Anna in all of her fury."

"I can handle Anna," Gabriel shrugged it off before turning to Charlie, "And Castiel, nice lady-friend. I do prefer the pretty green-eyed one you had over last night, though."

"If you would excuse us, Gabriel, Charlie and I have a project we need to work on." Castiel said quickly, leading a very confused Charlie out of the kitchen.

"Sure thing," Gabriel called after them, "Just don't go in Luci's room. I think he just created a meth lab."

Castiel pointedly ignored him, so Charlie decided it would be best to do that same. She followed him out of the kitchen and upstairs, where they went into a room that looked like an office.

"I'm sorry about Gabriel," Castiel said stiffly, closing the door behind them, "He can be a handful."

"He seems like a pretty chill guy." Charlie shrugged.

"Anyways, this is my brother Michael's office. He should be fine with letting us use it." Castiel continued, no longer willing to talk about Gabriel.

Charlie went along with it, seeing as Castiel obviously did not want to have a conversation with her. She supposed that was only right, seeing as yesterday she had simultaneously ruined his love life and embarrassed him in front of their English class.

"Jeez, Michael must be a fancy lawyer or something." Charlie commented, looking around the office.

It was a very professional looking office, and an expensive-looking one at that. There were two hardwood desks, two laptops, and a very large bookcase with a very impressive looking collection of books. It had never occurred to Charlie before, but Castiel's family must be very wealthy.

"He is a lawyer." Castiel replied bluntly.

"How many other siblings do you have?" Charlie continued, still glancing around the room.

For a moment, she thought Castiel would ignore her question and propose working on the project, but eventually he spoke up.

"There's Michael, the oldest. He takes care of us," he answered cautiously, staring at Charlie with a far-away expression, "There's Lucifer, who was very unfortunately named. I suggest you call him Luke if you don't want him angry at you."

"Gabriel called him Luci." Charlie pointed out, causing Castiel to let out a small laugh. Charlie smiled, happy that he didn't completely hate her.

"Gabriel is, ah, special," Castiel stated, "He's also the third oldest, after Luke. Then Anna, and then me."

"I wish I had siblings." Charlie said wistfully.

"Trust me, you really don't," Castiel warned, before clearing his throat and saying, "We should probably finish this project."

"Probably." Charlie replied quickly, and just like that, they were distant again.

Damn it.


End file.
